


Snapshots in Time

by Vintage_Gold



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Family Feels, Guilt, Incest, Love, Retrospective, Secrets, Sibling Incest, protective brother, queencest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-23 04:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23138761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vintage_Gold/pseuds/Vintage_Gold
Summary: “He can’t deny her anything, he never has been able to.”Oliver struggles with his feelings, feelings that he most definitely shouldn’t have.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Thea Queen
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Snapshots in Time

**Author's Note:**

> Sentences in _italics_ are quotes from various episodes, either said by Oliver, Thea or made in reference to their relationship.

I.

 _“I knew it, I knew you were alive. I missed you so much.”_

Oliver loves Thea more than anything. More than anyone – Laurel, Felicity, Diggle. They all mean so much to him, however Thea comes above that. She's his world. 

_“Whoever I am, I am someone that will do whatever – whatever it takes to save my sister.”_

It scares him, what he’s willing to do to keep her safe and how distracted he can get with this thought when he’s out in the field. It's not easy being the Arrow when all he wants to do is protect her, and be the big brother she’s been missing for the past five years. 

It's not like he wants to keep secrets from her. He treads carefully because he’s fully aware she perceives all he’s done is lie to her since his return; still, with him being the Arrow, he cannot, _will not_ , risk putting her in danger. Therefore, it's inconsequential to him when he breaks the neck of her previous drug dealer or even disowns his own mother for lying about her parentage. Oliver can’t be forthcoming the way he wants, not if it will cost him her. 

_“Have you noticed how hot your sister’s gotten?”_

This is exactly the problem – he most definitely has. Since he’s come back, he can’t keep the many ways in which she has grown and filled out, off his mind. Her long, ivory legs, the softness of her features and sparkling eyes. The swell of her rounded breasts leading to the taut, smooth stomach and lushness of her curved hips. 

He thinks if Tommy has noticed it, and he _himself_ surely has, then how many other guys have too? No, he pushes that thought to the back of his mind. Brothers shouldn’t be jealous over their sisters, at least not in that way. 

_“I have something for you.”_

_“You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir.”_

_“It’s a_ _Hozen_ _and in Buddhism, it_ _symbolises_ _reconnecting. I kept it in the hopes that one day, it would reconnect me with you.”_

He thinks back to when he first arrives from the island. Thea is so happy to see him yet she’s emotionally disconnected, part of her damaged from mourning her father and assumed-dead brother for far too long. The guilt cuts him deep, slippery and sharp, like a knife slicing through him when he considers how she’s partying, alongside the drugs and reckless behaviour. Maybe because of him, because she’s alone and has no one to reach out to. He feels guilty and endlessly responsible. 

He smiles when he appreciates the young woman she’s becoming now. She doesn’t indulge in any of those things anymore. She’s exchanged them for a more dutiful and determined nature, working for Laurel and eventually becoming the owner of Verdant, his former club. Thea is responsible now; she’s quick-witted and has a good heart. He finds her incredibly beautiful and even if she’s a bit too trusting or wears her heart on her sleeve sometimes, he loves her completely. In spite of her past flaws, because he knows he’s the last one to talk on that. She's grown up tremendously in the time he’s been gone, and is growing a lot more, right before his eyes. He weighs up how it’s just the two of them now. No Moira, no Robert, no Tommy. Just Ollie and his Speedy. 

_“If we’re not together, then...we’re not even really alive.”_

_“And even if you don’t need me, I need you. Please just consider what I’m saying.”_

He realises his secret is about to put her in danger, the one thing he has always tried to keep her from, and he thinks he would rather die than let harm come to her. After all the events that have brought them heartache, there’s nothing she can’t handle. 

He knows he can tell her anything when he finally allows himself to open up, he has no more reasons to hide from her. It's now, he thinks, or never. 

>>>

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)


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